The present invention relates generally to the field of air fresheners and in particular to a new and useful water soluble perfumed composition which can be used in a moving water display without foaming.
Portable display fountains are known for use, such as taught by U.S. Pat. No. 6,029,899 for a table top fountain. The fountain has a fluid container with a waterproof recirculating pump mounted inside. A column open at the ends extends upwardly from a part of the bottom of the container. A power cord for the pump passes through the column. A rubber plug is used to seal the open upper end of the column so that water does not leak out of the container.
Portable or table top recirculating fountains like that of U.S. Pat. No. 6,029,899 are typically used to provide a relaxing display, like a fish tank, for a person. These fountains can be used in homes or in offices. The sound of the water moving through the fountain can be both pleasing and relaxing. In addition, the fountain can have desirable design features, making it a useful ornamental piece in the room where it is located.
While the sound and appearance of recirculating fountains are known and have been used for relaxation, until now a third pleasing and useful elementxe2x80x94fragrancexe2x80x94has not been available for use in water-based fountains without severe problems.
Attempts to fragrance moving water, such as found in a recirculating fountain, have resulted in the water foaming and creating an unacceptable appearance in the fountain and incompatibility with fountain parts and components, such as melting plastic fountain parts. At the same time, the amount of fragrance released from the fountain has been poor, with scented fountains providing almost no scent compared to other air freshening devices.
The combination of water soluble fragrance oils with water tends to cause foaming when the mixture is agitated, primarily due to the unavoidable presence of impurities and/or surfactants in the mixture. Silicone-based anti-foaming agents, while well known for preventing the formation of foam in mixtures containing surfactants, produce a cloudy mixture. Further, the scent release problem has not been addressed by the prior compositions.
Clear scented compositions for other purposes are known, such disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,983,316 for a relatively clear detergent with controlled foaming behavior having a dispersable silicone anti-foaming agent. The silicone anti-foaming agent is a mixture of two anti-foam agents, the primary anti-foaming agent being a mixture of a polyorganosiloxane, a resinous siloxane, a finely divided filler material and a catalyst to promote the reaction of the elements. The secondary anti-foaming agent is a mixture of a polydimethylsiloxane fluid, a nonionic silicone surfactant and two dispersing agents. One of the dispersing agents may be an ethylene oxide/propylene oxide block co-polymer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,968,889 teaches a detergent having anti-foam properties. A silicone anti-foaming agent is combined with a carboxylated poly(oxyalykylated) alcohol co-surfactant to make an anti-foaming mixture for the detergent. The claims recite the anti-foaming mixture restrictively, that is, no other components may be present in the claimed anti-foaming mixture except those two elements. No block co-polymers are included in the composition.
A hard surface detergent composition having good spotting and filming characteristics is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,376. The composition includes block polymers. PLURONIC L-62 and other PLURONIC block co-polymers are disclosed for use with the detergent composition. The block co-polymers must be non-ionic surfactants present in amounts between 1-15% and the pH must be between 3 and 12.5. Other components include a hydrophobic cleaning solvent, an aqueous solvent system and a polycarboxylate builder.
A clear, low foam washing agent for dish washers is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,635,827. The washing agent is formed from a mixture of 70-98% wt. of a water-soluble polyvinyl alcohol having a molecular weight of 1,000-4,000 and from 2-30% wt. of a compound which can be propylene oxide polymers including ethylene oxide.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,388,072 teaches an anti-foaming polymer composition formed from a co-polymerization of ethylene and vinyl acetate. The resulting compound is a polyethylenepolyvinyl alcohol co-polymer. The patent discloses that certain derivatives of the co-polymer have good anti-foaming properties.
Clearly, while some of the prior art patents have disclosed low foaming compositions, they are not adaptable for use in providing a strong fragrance to a water supply in a decorative fountain.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a recirculating fountain having a non-foaming fragrance in the water used in the fountain.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a non-foaming recirculating fountain which can be used to effectively fragrance an area such as a room without detrimentally affecting the appearance or function of the fountain after extended use.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a non-foaming fragrant composition for use in a recirculating fountain to fragrance an area such as a room.
Accordingly, compositions are disclosed having either a) a siloxane anti-foam agent and water solution, a block co-polymer, denatured 200 proof alcohol and fragrance oil, b) water, fragrance oil, and siloxane anti-foam agent, and c) an insoluble, non-foaming fragrance oil. The compositions may be provided in a concentrated form, for addition to existing water in recirculating fountain, or in a dilute form for use as the recirculating fluid in the fountain.
The compositions are unexpectedly found to produce 10 times to 50 times the fragrance intensity for the same concentration of fragrance as a gel air freshener. Further, the compositions do not foam when used in a recirculating fountain.
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses, reference is made to the accompanying drawing and descriptive matter in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated.